Sonos unveils smart speaker with support for multiple voice services

Audrey Henderson

But having Alexa switched on definitely has its advantages, particularly because - as promised - she's more deeply integrated here than with rivals. And unlike the wide blue light band on the Echo, the Sonos One's listening light is a bit more subtle, a small line on its top.

The latter is available for pre-order Wednesday in Canada for $79, and is Google's answer to Amazon's Echo Dot. This speaker is the spiritual successor to the PLAY:1. They still won't be under this scenario. He added, "Tens of millions of customers are already using Alexa..." Swiping gestures navigate those controls, though the microphone is a dedicated button. Expect the Recombu verdict on the Sonos One and updated app in the near future. The company says that it will be available soon though. Users will then be able to pair their Echo speaker with their current Sonos speaker. Working with Spotify, this feature is going to allow you to control playlists too, waking up in the morning and asking Alexa to "play your morning playlist" will trigger the named Spotify playlist to run throughout the house. This means you'll be able to control Sonos speakers via Siri. But the latter products are now not sold in India by the respective companies.

If you want to listen to the hottest mixtapes and freshest EPs, you can also tune in to Soundcloud, Bandcamp, and more. The Sonos One now runs on a chip that's as capable as the one in your smartphone. Or it could be pushed to all the other speakers at once. Smart speakers are a recently growing phenomenon all around the world. To wit, Sonos has a new "works with Sonos" badge, and today it announced partners such as Logitech, Samsung SmartThings and HDL. That was released today, available to download now. Moreover Amazon isn't pushing its own streaming service as default as you set access to other local streaming services like Saavn. Alexa is the brain behind Echo; since Alexa runs in the cloud, the service is always getting smarter.

Jonathan Marsh, head of tech buying at John Lewis, said: "Not since iPads and rival tablets sold like hot cakes at Christmas 2012 or the battle of the new Playstation 4 and Xbox In 2013 have been seen interest like this for gadgets".

The $199 Sonos One is voice controlled and works with 80 streaming services. Same goes for pausing, skipping, playing different genres, and so on.

Sonos has previously announced plans for Alexa control and integration, but today the company has gone one better. This could help Sonos stand out in a crowded market. Sonos will also support Apple'sAirPlay 2 in 2018, which will allow it to take commands via Siri. The Home speakers from Google are powered by Google Assistant.

Cortana wasn't mentioned and doesn't appear to be in the roadmap.

Sonos' agnostic approach with web services doesn't stop at smart assistants. We'll test the Sonos One further over the coming weeks.

The Sonos Onesmart speaker, introduced yesterday at a press conference in NY by Chief Executive Officer Patrick Spence, looks similar to the company's Play:1 speaker but adds six far-field microphones for capturing voice commands and a new array of buttons at the top for controlling the device.

It's that combination of agnosticism and openness that makes the Sonos One an interesting speaker. It is a true "platform" rather than just a Wi-Fi speaker with knobs on, as Sonoses (Soni?) have been up to now. Pre-orders are already underway, with retail availability starting on October 24.

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